YashRaj and Johar Films – A Bane of Hindi Film Industry

What’s wrong with the films produced under the banner of YashRaj and Karan Johar. I mean they have got good locations, nice songs, popular starcast, overwhelming emotional sequences – that according to some – are parts of a complete film. Besides, huge success rate of the films have proved that audiences in general like the movie, which ultimately is the goal of every movie.

The answers to the above question are simple for any person who thinks or rather knows that these movies lack something – they could be cliched scripts, poor acting, non-situational songs, and impractical emotional sequences. But, success of these films would leave no scope for such criticism. Well, I don’t think so.

Had the movies been produced by a new production house, I would not have criticized the production house because they would only be implementing a common formula for success. The things, however, are not same with the established and prestigious production houses like YashRaj and Karan Johar. The very fact that these production houses are rich and prestigious means that they drive the film industry and every new entrant would want to follow them. So, if the script writers are not getting good pay; versatility of an actor gets limited only to romantic roles; portrayal of society in films turns the other way round; an innovative producer and director duo goes bankrupt - these production houses are largely to be blamed.

So, when next time Karan Johar says, “I know some people don’t link my movies, but I am not going to change my style”, just realize it is not the attitude of a great filmmaker that speaks, it is his knack for doing the easiest thing possible which ultimately is blocking the growth of the film industry.

PS: This article was written some months back, so last paragraph might seem an exaggeration to some.